The Kogi State Government has begun disbursing N646.8 million in bursary allowances to 20,347 verified students for the 2025/2026 academic session, with individual undergraduate payments raised to N30,000.
The disbursement was launched on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Lokoja under the “Gov. Ododo Students Support Season 2” programme.
According to the Kogi State Government, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo was represented at the ceremony by the Commissioner for Education, Wemi Jones, who said the administration remained committed to reducing the financial pressure faced by students pursuing tertiary education.
The Executive Chairman of the Kogi State Scholarship Board, Afolabi Joseph-Raji, said the bursary had been increased by 150% from the previous N12,000 to N30,000 per undergraduate. Medical students will receive N75,000 each, up from the previous N18,000, he said.
Joseph-Raji also said the government had abolished the N650 scratch-card fee previously charged for access to the bursary application portal. He said the application process is now free, paperless and conducted online.
The 2025/2026 payment will be made in phases. Joseph-Raji said the first tranche of N403 million covers 13,157 students enrolled in tertiary institutions within Kogi State, while more than 7,000 students studying outside the state will be captured in the second tranche.
He said medical students would begin receiving their alerts first, followed by other beneficiaries, with the board expecting all 20,347 verified students to receive their payments before the end of the week, subject to the disbursement process.
The scholarship board said the bursary scheme, which was last paid in 2019, was revived in 2024. For the 2024/2025 academic session, Joseph-Raji said the board disbursed N256.4 million to 8,549 undergraduates at N30,000 each, alongside N60.3 million to Nigerian Law School students at N300,000 each and N261 million through other scholarship interventions.
The latest exercise represents a significant increase in the number of beneficiaries, with Joseph-Raji saying about 8,000 students benefited during the first season compared with more than 20,000 students in the current cycle.
Speaking at the ceremony, the outgoing National President of the National Association of Kogi State Students, Sunday Adeola Simon, acknowledged delays in the process, noting that applications for the current scheme began in September 2025.
Simon thanked the state government for commencing the payments and appealed for students studying outside Kogi State and Kogi indigenes at the Nigerian Law School to continue receiving government support.
Ododo also encouraged beneficiaries to explore the Federal Government’s student loan scheme as an additional source of support for tertiary education costs.
